variants
or harken
hearkened or harkened; hearkening
ˈhär-kə-niŋ 
ˈhärk-niŋ
or harkening
1
: listen
hearkened without much mental comment—
Theodore Dreiser
Theodore Dreiser2
: to give respectful attention
the humble folk who hearkened to these evangelists—G. M. Stephenson
G. M. Stephenson3
: to bring to mind something in the past : hearken back
Portrayals of dinosaurs with lizard-like tongues hearken to early interpretations of the beasts as oversized lizards.—Mindy Weisberger
Mindy Weisberger
archaic
: to give heed to : hear
Examples of hearken in a Sentence
hearken! I hear the distant beat of the hooves of many horses
Recent Examples on the Web
The cheesy filling hearkens to the beloved appetizer, but the herbs and garlic give it a bit more flavor depth.
—Ann Taylor Pittman, Southern Living, 13 July 2025
An iron horse hearkens to the railroad, and what the railroad brought to the West, which was expansion, and thereby Native people were somewhat driven back by the expansion of the railroad in the West.
—Lisa De Los Reyes, HollywoodReporter, 27 Apr. 2025
Masterpiece Theater Matthew Fraser November 30, 2022 Climate activist attacks on works by van Gogh, Vermeer, and other art world titans are the latest in a tradition of destruction that hearkens to the early Christian zealots.
—The Editors, JSTOR Daily, 22 Apr. 2025
The spirit of transgression that runs throughout Amis’s work seemed continually to hearken to that which lay outside English literature’s parameters.
—Rachel Cusk, Harper's Magazine, 19 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for hearken
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Ann Taylor Pittman, Southern Living, 13 July 2025
An iron horse hearkens to the railroad, and what the railroad brought to the West, which was expansion, and thereby Native people were somewhat driven back by the expansion of the railroad in the West.
—Lisa De Los Reyes, HollywoodReporter, 27 Apr. 2025
Masterpiece Theater Matthew Fraser November 30, 2022 Climate activist attacks on works by van Gogh, Vermeer, and other art world titans are the latest in a tradition of destruction that hearkens to the early Christian zealots.
—The Editors, JSTOR Daily, 22 Apr. 2025
The spirit of transgression that runs throughout Amis’s work seemed continually to hearken to that which lay outside English literature’s parameters.
—Rachel Cusk, Harper's Magazine, 19 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for hearken
Cite this Entry
“Hearken.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hearken. Accessed 29 Jul. 2025.
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